


Drowned us in Ink

by orphan_account



Series: Kings of New York [3]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Gen, newsies au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-21
Updated: 2016-03-21
Packaged: 2018-05-28 04:30:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6315106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John brought his little brother to the beach and promised his dad he wouldn't let him get hurt. </p>
<p>John didn't keep his promise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Drowned us in Ink

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of my Newsies AU.  
> This takes place in the late 1800s.  
> John is 14.   
> Martha is 12.  
> Harry is 8.  
> Jemmy is 5.  
> Mary Eleanor is 4.

“Jack, do you mind taking Jemmy to the beach today?  Your sisters want me to take them shopping in town, and Harry’s not feeling well today.”

John looked up from his sketchbook at his dad who was standing next to his little brother, Jemmy.  They were spending a few weeks in a house they rented on the beach like they did every summer.  John’s mom had been the one to start the tradition, and they’d continued it even after she died a few years ago. 

“Sure,” he replied, closing his sketchbook.  Before he even had the chance to stand up, Jemmy had grabbed onto his wrist and tried to pull him up out of the chair he was in.

“Hurry up, Jack.  I wanna go swimming _ now _ ,” said Jemmy.

John laughed as he stood up.  “Alright.  Let’s race to the beach, okay?”

Jemmy nodded enthusiastically and rushed out the front door.

John turned to his father before he left and said, “Bye Dad.  We’ll be home later.  I’ll make sure he doesn’t kill himself or anything.”  He then followed Jemmy out the door.

***

“Let’s go over to the jetty,” John suggested.  Jemmy had won the race to the beach (John had let him win), and were catching their breath. 

“What’s that?” Jemmy asked.

John pointed over to the rocks that ran from the edge of the beach out towards the water.  “The rock pile on the side of the beach is called a jetty.”

“Oh.  I didn’t know they had a name,” he responded.  “Is it safe? Dad never lets us go on the rocks because he says it’s too dangerous, and we might hurt ourselves.”

“We’ll just be really careful,” said John.  “And we won’t tell dad that we went over there.  It’ll be our secret, okay? While we’re over there I’ll draw a picture of you in my sketchbook.”

Jemmy smiled.  “I like the picture you draw of me,” he said.  “Can you carry me, Jack?”

John sighed and picked him up and carried him over to the jetty.  Once they got there, he put Jemmy down so he could climb up the rocks easier.  There were a few other people out on the jetty, so John found a spot away from everybody else.  He and Jemmy sat down, and he started to draw.

After a while, Jemmy started to fidget.  “Are you almost done, Jack? I wanna go swimming.”

“I’m almost finished,” he responded.  “You can move now.  Just give me a few minutes and we can go back on the beach.”

“Wow.  Jack, look at all the fish.”

John looked up and saw Jemmy getting very close to the edge, staring down at the water.  “Be careful.  Dad’ll kill me if you get hurt.”

“I’ll be fine,” said Jemmy, and John went back to his drawing.  That’s when he heard a scream.  He looked up just in time to see Jemmy hit the water.  He sat there frozen for a few moments, not sure what he was supposed to do.

Eventually, he tossed his sketchbook aside and stood up.  He was about to jump in after Jemmy when somebody grabbed him from behind to stop him.  It was one of the other people who’d been on the jetty. 

He started screaming at the man. “Let me go! Let me go! I have to get my brother.”  He felt tears running down his face.  He heard the man trying to talk to him, but he couldn’t hear what he was saying over his screams. 

***

He wasn’t sure how exactly he’d gotten back to the beach, but he had a vague memory of being dragged.  Whoever had dragged him to the beach had also brought his sketchbook which was laying next to him on the sand.

There was a woman he didn’t know sitting next to him on his left rubbing his back while trying to comfort him and a police officer standing in front of him to prevent him from trying to run into the water, which he remembered having tried a few times.  

He’d stopped screaming a while ago, but he could still feel the tears on his face.  He just sat there on the sand staring out at the ocean, hoping that maybe Jemmy was okay.  

He stood up as he saw them pull his body out of the ocean.  The police officer put his arm out to prevent John from getting any closer.  He could tell by the looks on everybody’s faces that he hadn’t made it, and John started sobbing.

He heard a scream from behind him and spun around.  It was his sisters and his dad.  They must have been coming to the beach after they’d gone shopping.

His father walked towards him and grabbed onto his shoulders. “What happened, Jack? You were supposed to be taking care of your brother.”

“He fell, Dad.  I was drawing, and he fell.  I couldn’t save him.”

He could tell his dad was really mad at him, but knew he wouldn’t make a scene in front of so many people.  He pushed John towards his sisters.  “Take your sisters home.  I’ll handle the rest.”

John picked up Mary Eleanor and held onto Martha’s hand.  The three of them walked back to the house in silence. 

As they walked into the house, Mary Eleanor spoke up, “Jacky, Jemmy’s coming home right?”

“I don’t think so, Polly,” he said and she started crying along with Martha. 

Harry walked into the room and frowned at them.  “Why are you all crying?  Where’s Jemmy?”

John didn’t think he could handle talking anymore, and disappeared into his room.  He threw himself onto his bed and started sobbing again into his pillow.  From the other room, he heard his siblings still crying.

Everybody was crying and it was all his fault.

***

The Laurens family had been back in New York for a few days.  John hadn’t left his bed, except for yesterday to go to the funeral.  

Sometimes one of his siblings would come in to give him some food, which he barely ate.  He would still often hear one of his sisters crying.  At night, Harry, who usually shared a room with Jemmy, had started sleeping with John in his bed.

Sometimes his dad would come into his room and yell at him for letting Jemmy die.  John usually tried to ignore it, and would just pull his blanket over his head, which he knew was just making his father even more mad.  He couldn’t bring himself to care.

As soon as they’d gotten back from the funeral the day before, John had come into his room and ripped up nearly all the drawings he had of Jemmy.  He’d saved only one.  It was his favorite, and he couldn’t bring himself to destroy it.  Instead, he’d shoved it under his pillow and fell asleep.

***

This morning, just like every morning since they’d arrived back in New York, John’s father came into his room and started yelling at him.  He just laid in bed and ignored him until he left.  

After his dad left, he climbed out of bed, and left his room for the first time in days.  As he slipped out the door of the apartment, he heard Harry ask where he was going, but he didn’t stay long enough to reply.  He needed to get away.

He ended up just wandering around the streets.  He wondered if he should even go back home.  It’s not like anybody would care.  He’d killed Jemmy after all, and Jemmy had been everybody’s favorite.  He knew they all blamed him, even if they weren’t as vocal about it as their father. 

He came across a girl selling newspapers.  She was really tall and wasn’t wearing any shoes.  As she called out the headlines, he heard her mention his brother’s name. He stuffed his hands in his pockets to try and find a penny, but all he found was a quarter.

He walked up to the girl and handed her the quarter, and got a paper in return.  

“Wait,” the girl said as he started to walk away.  “I need to give you your change.”

“It’s fine,” he responded.  “You can keep the quarter.”

He saw the girl’s eyes widen, and she grinned at him.  “Merci,” she said and ran over to a newsboy who was wearing an eye patch to show off the quarter.

He walked away and looked at the paper.  The story about his brother’s death was on the front page.  Of course his dad would make sure Jemmy made the front page. 

He started reading the article which discussed how Jemmy had fallen off the jetty.  It also talked about the funeral the day before.  It didn’t mention anything about him, and how he’d been watching him, so at least nobody besides his family would think he was a murderer.

He ripped off the front page of the newspaper and threw the rest away in the trash.

***

He arrived back at his family’s apartment late at night.  He walked by his father and neither of them spoke.  When he got into his room he slid the article under his pillow along with his drawing of Jemmy.

He was about to fall asleep when Harry showed up at the door.  He looked like he was close to tears.  “I thought you weren’t coming home,” he said.

“I’m sorry.  I just needed to get away for a little.  Come lay down.”

Harry climbed into the bed and laid down next to John.  A few tears ran down his cheeks, and he turned his head away. “Sorry,” he said.

“What are you apologizing for?”

“Dad says boys aren’t allowed to cry.”

“Well dad’s not here right now, is he? You can cry as much as you want around me, okay?”

Harry smiled a little bit.  “Thanks Jack.”

Their sisters arrived at the door next, holding hands. 

“Polly was having a nightmare,” said Martha.  “Can we sleep in here tonight?”

“Of course you can,” said John as he moved over, so the two of them could squeeze in. 

“It’s not your fault, Jack,” said Martha.  “I know dad blames you, but I know you didn’t hurt Jemmy on purpose.  None of us blame you.”

The room was silent for a moment before John spoke up.  “Let’s just all go to sleep, okay?”

He pulled his blankets up over all of them, and they all fell asleep.

  
When John woke up the next morning, they were all still there, sleeping.

**Author's Note:**

> If you have any questions or anything my tumblr is kingof-santafe.   
> I'd love to talk about my au.


End file.
